Great Artists Come From Anywhere
by Blue-A-Touille
Summary: A fan fic of Pixar's movie, Ratatouille. Faye is a rat with a special talent, but never thought of showing it off. With secret help from some humans and rats, she becomes what she never thought she would, and discovers what a friendship really is.
1. Chapter 1

Great Artists Come From Anywhere

Chapter 1

"...And so it goes to say that I must speak my mind. Your choice isn't of a surprise to me, but I do feel that you are making a mistake, my Faye. Stay with us, please don't make the same mistake your mother did. I couldn't bear to lose you too."

These words rang inside the young female rat's mind as Faye slowly crawled along the sidewalks through the nights of Paris. Where she was going was of question even to her. But she needed to get away, far away, anywhere.

"I'm not making a mistake, father! This is what I want. Mother made her own choices and they have nothing to do with mine. Why can't you just accept the fact that I don't belong here? I won't live up to these standards. I'm not a pet, and I'm not going to be kept inside a cage all my life and be controlled by some prissy, spoiled human!"

That argument that she had with her father the day before clouded her mind like a dark, thick fog on a cold winter day. She had her chance to run away, and took it. But everything she tried to leave behind, everything she hated, came with her. It was all trapped inside a memory of hate and disapointment. She couldn't forget, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Ugh! I will not have a rat in front of _my_ shop!" Faye heard a voice shout as she felt herself being sharply pushed off the sidewalk by a shopkeeper and his broom. She landed with a thud in the middle of the busy street with cars whizzing over her. She quickly ran for cover to a nearby sewer drain. Faye collapsed on the cold ground in pain and exhaustion from her long journey. She shut her eyes and fell into a peaceful, deep sleep.

A few moments later, a rather large brown rat came crawiling through the sewers. He noticed the blonde rat lying on the cold hard ground, she looked hurt.

"Oh no! I better go get dad!" he quickly turned around and headed for the large colony that was hidden deep inside the sewers of Paris.

"I was heading out to find Remy, but then I saw her lying there and I went back to get you," Emile explained to his father Django, the leader of their clan.

"Git, help her back to the colony and we'll get her some food and a place to sleep," Django ordered Git, the largest, toughest rat of the clan, and a former lab rat. Git picked up the still sleeping Faye and followed Django back into the sewers as Emile headed out of the drain to find his older brother Remy.


	2. Chapter 2

Great Artists Come From Anywhere

Chapter 2

"Well, that's the last of them," sighed Alfredo Linguini as he watched the last customers at La Ratatouille file out the door.

"We did good today guys." Linguini walked through the big double doors to find Remy and Colette cleaning up the remaining food of the messy kitchen.

"Well the Little Chef does have a habit of making irresistable food," Colette commented. Remy smiled brightly, but he knew he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything without their help. He wished he knew how to tell them that.

"Remy! Hey Remy!" Emile called to Remy as he tried to fit through a rat hole in the wall. Remy climbed down from the counter and went to help Emile get through the hole. It took a few pulls, but he got him out.

"Thanks little brother. At first, I was coming by to tell you that we're getting to a point of low food, but now I have something completely different I want to tell you."

"Well what is it?"

"On my way here, I found a girl lying on the floor at the opening of the sewer drain. She looked hurt so we took her into the colony and gave her a place to sleep. She is one pretty rat, bro. I would try to keep her there as long as possible." But Remy wasn't all that interested in what she looked like.

"What?! Is she okay? Where is she hurt? What happened to her?" He couldn't get the words out as fast as he wanted, but it was too fast for Emile.

"Whoa, whoa there! Slow down, she's fine, when I left she was still asleep. If she wants to tell us what happened, she can, we just got to wait now. And you might want to come so that we don't give her any poisened food. That'd be bad." Emile chuckled as he told Remy.

"Do you need to go Little Chef?" Asked Linguini. He couldn't tell exactly what they were saying, but he's been around Remy long enough to get an idea of how to understand their language. Remy nodded as he looked up at Linguini.

"Okay, Colette and I are going to go home now. Will you be coming back to the apartment?" Remy shook his head no.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." With that, Colette and Linguini walked out the back door of the kitchen and left to their apartments.

"Let's go now to see if she's awake." Remy and Emile went back through the hole and ran towards the nearby sewer drain.

"Wha-what happened? Where am I?" The still sleepy Faye had woken up, but not where she remembered falling asleep. She was lying on something soft, and she was bandaged up.

"Dad! She's awake!" Emile called to Django who ran over to Faye and gave her some water. She gratefully took it for she haden't eaten or drank all day. Hearing Emile, pretty much the whole colony had ran to Faye's aid to see if she was alright. That included Remy.

"Are you okay?" He asked concerned,

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just really tired, and hungry. Why am I bandaged?" She asked him, he didn't know.

"When Emile found you, you had some blood on your side. We figured you have been hurt." Django answered.

It was all starting to come back to her now. The argument, running away, her mother, the shopkeeper, and running into the sewer.

"Yeah, I remember now. I was walking on the sidewalk, and then a human hit me with his broom really hard, and I fell out into the street. Then I ran into the drain for cover." Faye tried to move, but she felt a sharp pain in her side. She winced.

"Don't move, you're going to have to stay in bed for a couple days. Remy! Give her the good food," Django told Remy. Remy was the only rat that really even knew what good food was. He ran off but quickly returned with a bucketful of fresh grapes and cheese.

"Here try this," he handed her a piece of cheese, and she gratefully took that too. Then, seeing that she was alright, the colony went back to their own business.

"Mmm, this cheese is good! What kind is it?" She asked him munching away on the delicious cheese.

"Tome de chevra de pays. You should try it with a mushroom and some rosemary, it's delicious."

"Really? I didn't know that. You seem to have a knack for food." Faye commented, she had somewhat of a knack for food herself.

"Well, I do cook in a famous restraunt." Remy wasn't trying to brag, but he couldn't help himself.

"A rat? Cooking in a restraunt? For humans?" Faye look appauled.

"Yep! It took me a long way to get there, but I love to cook. I have a highly developed sense of taste and smell. Oh, and by the way, my name's Remy."

"My name is Faye." She said forgetting about her hate for humans for a moment.

"Faye, that's such a pretty name. Where are you from?"

She didn't exactly want to get into her life right now, but she didn't want to be rude, he was being so nice.

"Well, I'm from the outskirts of Paris, and I just kind of wanted to see what the real city was like, but then I got hurt and here I am." Faye lied but she didn't want to say the truth, it was too much right now.

"So, you left your clan just so you could see the city?" Remy asked curiously.

"Well, I wasn't exactly with, um, a clan. It was just me, my father and my brother living together." Faye answered hesitantly.

"Why did you leave your family? I'm sure they miss you." Faye began to get annoyed with how he was getting into her personal life. Lying didn't exactly keep anything secret with him.

"I don't really want to talk about it right now, if you don't mind. I'm exhuasted, I'd just like to be alone."

"Oh yeah, sure. You just get some rest, and stay in bed. If you need anything, someone's always here." With that, Remy stood up, leaving the bucket of food for her, and walked to where his dad was accross the way.

Faye's ears perked up as she heard something in the sewer, music it sounded like. Yes it was. Very soft, quiet music. It was a familiar song, Le Festin by a singer named Camille. Faye had heard it before and loved it immediately.

i_"Dreams are to lovers as wine is to friends. Carried through lifetimes, and spilled now and then. I am driven by hunger, so saddened to be, thieving in darkness; I know you're not pleased. But nothing worth stealing is free."_/i

"Nothing worth stealing is free, no life worth living is free.

We must pay the price of dispair, and disapointment we share.

I have been through a life of pain, but now there is much to gain.

My price has been paid, and someone came to my aid.

A new life I have been waiting for, and now is my chance to live it evermore."

Faye made up the poem as she listened to Le Festin. She ran it through her mind over and over to make sure she didn't forget it. Poetry was the only way she could get the words that she felt out. It was her secret desire, to be known for great poetry. When Faye had lived her life as a pet rat, that was impossible to accomplish. The humans that owned her and her family kept her in a cage ever since she was born. Her father lived in one cage along with her brother in the little boy's room, while Faye lived in the little girl's room. The rats belonged to the children of a chef and a poet. So Faye did have some knowledge of cooking, but she loved poetry even more. She hated the humans for making her life miserable but she loved how they had such high levels of creativity. She learned a lot from watching the humans, but she never liked them. She believed that they weren't the only beings capable of accomplishing what they do. But she was surprised to hear that Remy cooked at a famous restaraunt. Maybe rats could be noticed after all, just maybe.

i_"A lifetime of hiding, I'm suddenly free! My dinner is waiting for me. A life time of hiding, I'm suddenly free! My dinner is waiting for me."_/i


	3. Chapter 3

Great Artists Come From Anywhere

Chapter 3

Faye's eyes fluttered open as rays of sunlight shone through the musty sewer telling her it was time to wake up. She sat up in her bed, looking around the sewer. Most of that rats were still asleep in their boats, and only a few were up and about. Faye looked over at Remy who was sleeping soundly in the same boat that she was in.

"How can they live in a place like this?" Faye thought to herself. It was her first clear look of the sewer, and it was not a good one.

"It's better than nothing I guess. At least I have a place to stay for a few days. Ugh, what is he eating?" She looked to the opposite end of the sewer, directly accross from where she was. She saw Emile eating what looked like...garbage.

"It's a good thing that someone has good taste around here, who knows how much worse this place would be without him." Just then she realized her side didn't hurt that much anymore! She was sitting up and it felt okay. She looked at her bandage to see a small blood stain on the side where she was hurt. She was glad to be in such good hands. She never felt this at home before. The last time she felt this safe was when her mother was with her. She still remembered the day she left...

"Why can't I go with you?"

"Now Faye, who's going to take care of Raine and your father? I need you here to keep the family together."

"How can we be a family if you're not with us?"

"This is something that I need to do. There's a bigger world out there, there's more to this life than cages and being a pet. I've been waiting to see the real world, and now's my chance. You have to understand. Your father thinks I'm making a mistake, but It's a chance for me to live a better life. But don't ever forget this Faye, I will find you and show you what I will have discovered. I will come back, don't ever doubt me."

"I could never doubt you, mother. I believe that you will find something better. I know how much you love cooking, and you should see what's out there. But father and Raine can take care of themselves. I'm old enough to venture out. I don't want to be stuck here with the humans. I hate the humans!"

"I know Faye, you are just like me when I was your age. But I am happy that I waited to go out into the world, I wasn't ready then. When you are ready, you will know it. But for now, I must go. I will return Faye, don't you ever forget that."

"I won't mother, you can count on me."

"Hey! You're sitting up!" Faye was snapped out of her memory when she heard Remy's voice. He was standing up and wide awake.

"Oh, yes, I feel better now."

"A good's night sleep does wonders. I know. Hey, I'll be right back."

Faye hadn't had a decent nights sleep in a long time. He was right, she felt so much more refreshed and relaxed. Remy left for a second and came back with some strawberrys and more cheese.

"You hungry?"

"Yeah," Faye took one of the firm, bright red strawberrys and slowly took a bite out of it. It was delicious. Tangy, sweet, and juicy. Remy noticed that she was enjoying it.

"It makes a difference when you have ripe and fresh strawberrys doesn't it?"

Faye nodded, her mouth was too full to say anything. She swallowed.

"I've seen and smelled this stuff before, but I've never tried one before. It's delicious!"

"You've never had a strawberry before?" Remy asked in disbelief.

"No. I've watched my owner make all kinds of things with fruit, but I've never been able to try one."

"Owner?"

Faye stopped, realizing she just blurted out what she was trying to keep a secret. She paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say.

"Yes, my family lived as pets for humans. I've been a pet all my life. I hated it, and so that's why I left."

"Really? Humans aren't that bad once you get to know them. I'm sort of a pet myself."

Now it was Faye's turn to be shocked.

"You? A pet? I thought this was your home."

"Well, you know how I said that I cooked in a famous restaraunt?"

"Yes..."

"The waiter there has a place for me at his apartment whenever I want to come over. I stay with him quite frequently, but I stay here on certain occassions, like this one."

"How you _choose_ to be around humans like that?"

"Humans aren't that bad, I have a close relationship with the waiter, Linguini. He's a really good friend."

Faye just couldn't grasp the concept of being around humans and _enjoying_ it. It just made no sense. After all the humans have done to her, how they ruinied her life, she couldn't ever learn to become friends with one.

"Does he just keep you inside a cage whever you go over to his apartment? Like all the other humans do?"

"Of course not! Linguini is definitely not like other humans," Remy almost laughed as he thougth about some of the wacky times he and Linguini shared.

"So this restraunt you work at, what is it called?"

"_La Ratatouille_," Remy declared proudly.

"Ratatouille? Isn't that like a peasant dish?" Remy rolled his eyes.

"You will definitely think otherwise once you try our specialty, which is none other than ratatouille itself."

But Faye wasn't completely convinced.

"Well then you'll just have to show me _Monseur Chef_," Faye smiled.

"Well, can you stand up? Or even walk?" He asked.

Faye slowly stood up and balanced herself.

"Yeah, I just have to walk slowly." She was about to take the bandage off when Remy stopped her.

"Keep that on, it still needs to heal." He pressed it back onto her. She winced but then she felt fine after he let go. Then they headed out of the sewers to _La Ratatouille_, where Remy was going to make his special for his new friend.


	4. Chapter 4

Great Artists Come From Anywhere

Chapter 4

"This is a nice place. Simple, yet elegant." Faye commented as her and Remy had come to the entrance of _La Ratatouille_, which was currently closed.

"You like it? Wait until you try the food!" He took her hand to and led her to the back to the kitchen entryway. They crawled through the rat hole in the wall to find Colette and Linguini already in the kitchen.

"Hey Little Chef! Oh, is this a new friend?" Linguini saw Remy and Faye as they crawled through the hole. Remy nodded, answering his question.

"You brought me to the humans?!" Faye cried.

"It's okay, don't worry. They're my friends. They won't hurt you." Remy tried to reassure her, but that wasn't the problem.

"I may have been hurt by one, but I'm not _scared_ of them." Faye told him angrily.

"Is she a girl?" Linguini asked Remy. Remy nodded.

"She is a very pretty girl. What happened to her?" Colette asked as she noticed the bandage wrapped around Faye. Remy walked got up on top of the counter and climbed up Linguini's arm onto his head. Faye stared at Remy in confusion as to what he was doing. Remy began pulling Linguni's hair and made his leg kick forward to show that a human had kicked her. Then he climbed down on the floor and pretended to be hit and thrown accross the room. Linguini started to laugh at Remy's expression.

"So I'm guessing that someone hit her." Remy nodded. Faye was intrigued by how friendly he was with the humans. Then she realized something.

"How did he make him kick his leg? He pulled his hair? That is very strange. I have never seen that before..." Curiousity caused Faye to walk closer to Linguini, trying to get a better look at him. He was very strange and different to her. She wanted to find out why.

"I see you like Linguini," Remy smiled as he went back over to Faye.

"No, it is just that, he is so..."

"Strange? Yes, I know. But he's cool. He's very nice. When I first met him, he was nice to me. Well, he trapped me in a strainer, but at least he didn't try to kill me." Faye's eyes widened and then she turned to walk out.

"No no no! Don't leave! It's okay. I didn't mean it like that. Just come on." Remy took her hand and she felt the warmth and softness run through her arm. Her cheeks turned pink as he led her through the kitchen.

"Now, it is time to make my specialty dish!" Remy declared as he began to make his famous ratatouille. Faye walked around the counter and found a paper used for writing down recipes. There was a pencil sitting right next to it. She picked both of them up and stared at the blank page. Then she remembered the poem she had made up the night before. She began to write it down so she wouldn't forget it. Linguini had gone into the dining area and began preparing things for the day. Colette was in the kitchen also preparing, then she noticed Faye writing on the paper.

"What are you writing?" She asked. Faye jumped in fear at the figure that was above her.

"I'm sorry! I did not mean to scare you. I was just curious as to what you were writing down." Faye gave her a confused look that said, "Why would you care?"

"I did not know you knew how to write, that is all." It was like Colette knew what Faye was thinking. Faye was surprised. So she decided to show her what she had written down.

Nothing worth stealing is free, no life worth living is free.

We must pay the price of despair, and dispointment we share.

I have been through a life of pain, but now there is much to gain.

My price has been paid, and someone came to my aid.

A new life I have been waiting for, and now is my chance to live it evermore.

Colette's eyes were wide as she read the paper.

"This...is...a poem?" She asked. Faye nodded. What else would it be?

"This is very good. Where did you learn to write like this?"

Faye had no idea how she was supposed to answer that, but then she had an idea. She snatched the paper out of Colette's hands and began writing again. She gave the paper back to Colette who began reading it.

"I used to live with a human who was a poet, and I learned a lot from her." Colette read the words aloud. Remy turned his head, hearing Colette.

"How did she know that?" He asked Faye who was staring at Colette, but then turned to face Remy.

"I just told her."

"How?"

"I wrote it down."

"You can write?" Faye nodded. She didn't think it was that big of a deal.

"You can't?" Remy shook his head no. "Really?"

"Yeah, I can't believe _you_ can!" Remy eyes got wide and a smile spread accross his face.

"Faye! Can you tell Colette what my name is?"

"Why? She doesn't know your name?"

"No, they just call me Little Chef."

Faye took back the paper and erased what she had just wrote to Colette and began writing something else. Then she handed the paper back to her.

"By the way, 'Little Chef' wants to tell you that his name is Remy." She looked over to Remy.

"Your name is Remy? I didn't even know you had a name!" Remy nodded, he had a big smile on his face.

"Linguini! Get over here!" Colette called Linguini as she read the note again in shock.

"What? What's the matter?" He came running through the doors expecting something to have gone wrong.

"Look at this." Colette handed him the piece of paper. He took it and read it.

"Who wrote this?" He asked.

"She did." Colette pointed to Faye who was smiling. She enjoyed seeing the humans acting so strangely. Then Linguini looked over at Remy.

"Your name is Remy? I didn't even know you had a name!"

"That is what I said!" Colette exclaimed.

"What's your name?" Linguini asked Faye as he gave her back the piece of paper. She wrote it down and handed it back to them.

"Faye, that's beautiful." Linguini commented. She took the paper back and wrote "thank you" on it. Linguini smiled. Remy had gone back to work on making the ratatouille.

"Just a few more minutes, then it'll be done." He told her. "Hey, what did you write on the back of the paper?" Remy noticed that there was more writing on the paper. He went over to Linguini and took the paper.

"Wait! Don't..." Faye started, but he had already began reading it. When he was done, he looked up at Faye.

"You write poetry?"

"Well, not really, sort of, maybe?"

"Becuase this is really good."

Faye was surprised. Just then, the oven timer went off letting them know the food was done. Colette opened the oven for Remy and put the dish on the counter. Remy then organized the little slices of vegetables onto a plate, then covered them in a suculant sauce. He got out a fork and Faye went over to him.

"Try this." She grabbed a forkful and slowly took a bite.

"Oh my goodness! This is delicious!" Faye exclaimed as she took another bite of the delicious vegetables.

"See? What'd I tell ya?" Remy smiled. "So, your owner was a poet? And that's how you can write poetry? Or even write for that matter?"

"Yes. It's just something that I do sometimes, it's not that big of a deal." Faye thought it didn't matter that much. She ate the rest of the ratatouille and savored every bite of it.

"Thank you very much, this meal was delicious."

"Your very welcome!" Remy smiled brightly, satisfyed that she enjoyed it so much. Just then he remembered he was asking her about her poetry.

"Hey, about that poem..." He began. Faye didn't want him to mention it, but she didn't stop him. "What did you mean by, 'I have been through a life of pain'?"

"Remy, it's not a big deal. I just wrote that down so I wouldn't forget it. I thought of it last night. It's just kind of someting I put together really fast."

"Do you have any other saved poems?" He asked hopefully.

"Only that I've memorized in my head. Why?" Remy smiled

"I think I have an idea."


	5. Chapter 5

Great Artists Come From Anywhere

Chapter 5

Faye slumped along down the alley behind _La Ratatouille_ with tears in her eyes.

"I cannot be around the humans. He does not realize how much it hurts, how much it reminds me of my old home. I cannot believe he just lets them treat him like a pet. What is so great about them?"

She suddenly cried out in pain and collapsed to the pavement. She hadn't realized her bandage had come off, and that she stepped into a muddy puddle. She walked back to where her bandage fell off and wrapped it back around her. She carefully pressed it on, wincing from the increasing pain. After she had made sure it was secure, she sat down on the cold, hard pavement. She wanted to keep moving, but every movement brought pain along with it.

She thought she heard a noise behind her, but she didn't bother to see what it was. The sound drew closer and closer, until a large shadow lurked over her.

"Faye, are you alright?" She heard a voice ask. She turned her head to see Colette standing over her. She kneeled down onto the ground and handed Faye a piece of paper and a pencil. She wrote something down then handed it back to Colette.

"Why would I care?" She read the note in disbelief. "You are obviously upset about something, and you are hurt!" Colette gasped. But it sounded fake, like she was acting. Faye gave her a suspicous look, she could have swore Colette already knew she was hurt.

"We need to get you cleaned up and rest a for a little bit. I can take you to my apartment, that is, if you would like to stay there," She offered.

That was it. Overwhelmed by curiosity, but mostly suspicion, Faye took a chance she never thought she would. She actually agreed to go back to a life she had run away from, just to be able to observe this human's odd behavior. Colette opened her hand, and Faye stepped onto it.

Colette hopped on her motorcycle setting Faye right in front of her. She held on tight, as Colette started driving, and very fast. But finally, after driving for about 20 minutes past whatever you could make out with her driving so fast, including the Eiffel Tower, they had arrived at Colette's apartment. Which happened to be in the same building as Linguini's. They headed up stairways and hallways when they had arrived at her door.

"I will make a spot for you to stay and then you can rest." She slowly opened the door to reveal a room that was the same structure as Linguini's. But she had more style.

The living room had a large white couch with two plum colored chairs next to it. The floors were wooden and she had a plum and white rectangular rug in front of the couch. The walls were white but were decorated with beautiful works of art with a vast array of color. The kitchen was rather large, as a cook would need, but instead of being white and a plum purple, it was chocolate brown with an apple red.

Faye wrote, "I've heard that the colors red and yellow are supposed to give you an appetite. Is that why you have red in your kitchen?" She handed the paper to Colette.

"As a matter of fact, it is! Where did you hear that from?" She asked. Faye took the paper back.

"Ah, one of your female owners was a chef!" Colette exclaimed in delight. She liked the idea of female importance. She had worked very hard herself to achieve her lot in life.

Colette took a white pillow from a closet and set it in front of a window that was right in front of the stairway. She rested her hand on it and Faye walked off her hand and onto the soft pillow. It was very comfortable.

"I see you can walk now," Colette said, observing Faye observing her new place. Faye smiled.

"Would you like to me to run some water in the sink for you to clean yourself off?" Colette asked. Faye nodded. Colette headed for the bathroom, and Faye's eyes widened as she noticed the view she had from her window. She could see The Eiffel Tower in all it's immense glory cleary.

"Wow. If it is this amazing during the day, I cannot wait to see it at night!" Faye thought to herself. She was still basking in the tower's glory when Colette came back.

"The water is warm, if that is alright." She was smiling as she watched Faye. But she quickly turned around at the sound of her voice. Colette held out her hand for her. But Faye closed it and jumped down from her perch towards the bathroom. Colette followed.

"Well, you seem to be getting handle on things around here. I must be getting back to work, so you have the whole place to yourself. There are paper and pencils on the table in the living room if you would like." Faye nodded to Colette as she began removing her bandage. Colette smiled and walked out the door, locking it behind her.

"The whole place to myself. An endless number of writing utensils. I think I made a pretty good decision." Faye thought to herself as she relaxed in the warm water. Maybe the humans weren't so bad after all.


End file.
